I have broken myself

In a moment of madness i recently agreed to do a snowboarding course in Kilternan's 'Ski Club of Ireland'. Last week i was (unsurprisingly) a disaster. I don't really have the coordination required to balance myself on a small object while rapidly moving downhill. I spent the entire first lesson merrily falling over, picking up a few minor scratches, but nothing that could deter me from giving it a shot again today.

So myself and Tara headed up and i found myself doing a damn sight better that last week, not falling, but successfully carrying out the basic maneuvers- and on a bigger slope, no less!
Of course, this was a bad sign, as sure enough i started to get foolishly self assured. From about halfway up the slope (the medium one, for anyone who knows Kilternan) i saw that Tar had picked up some sort of injury and was being tended to below. Naturally being the kind of chivalrous soul that i am i hastened down the slope, inadvertently building up quite a bit of speed.

What followed was inevitable. The feeling of bliss, the wind through my hair, thinking: "you know, i'm pretty darn good at this." Then that oh-so-busy split second where i realise "oh, actually, no- i'm going to fall"; swiftly followed by "my, i am going rather fast"; then kaboom, another idiot learns the hard way why it's called 'extreme' sport.

Bottom line (oho!): my ass hurts. I really hope this isn't broken. Imagine the shame of a broken ass. A plaster-nappy (shudder..). For some reason my leg won't lift more than a couple of inches. I'm going sideways up stairs. Sigh. I should have known that putting someone as accident prone as me on a snowboard was a bad move. It's like those 'Trouble Brewing' cartoons from the far side. "Ooh, rob's going snowboarding...".

Although the 'my friends snowboarding' injury list is steadily growing.

That list in full:

Week One: Paddy- ankle, concussion, mild amnesia.
Week Two: Mac- broken finger.
Week Three: Tara- finger; Rob- ass.

I must point out though (even if it seems redundant after this the 'injury' post) that the ski club is exceedingly well run and the staff are incredible! In fact i just found out from their website that it's a non-profit organisation and all the instructors are voluntary, which is a pretty strong testament as to the love that goes into the place. So if you're not a complete clutz like myself i heartily endorse checking it out.